Loading ...The Baseball America Top 10 Prospects for each league are almost all rolled out. Here’s a summary and a few notes on the Reds prospects who have made the lists, which actually lists the top 20 prospects for each league. The International League is not yet on the website, but the print version is already out. The numbers below are BA OBP SLG OPS for hitters and ERA WHIP BA OPS for pitchers.
International League
14. Drew Stubbs – .267 .344 .384 .728
Great defensive CF, plus speed, and good plate discipline.
20. Chris Heisey – .314 .379 .521 .900
Solid all around skills and an above average runner. Has good approach at plate and is a good defensive OF.
Southern League
12. Todd Frazier – .292 .351 .481 .832
Strong line drive gap hitter. Has played all four infield spots and LF. Best spot for him is probably 3B.
14. Chris Heisey – .314 .379 .521 .900
Solid all around skills and an above average runner. Has good approach at plate and is a good defensive OF.
20. Travis Wood – 1.77 1.040 .204 .568
LH starter who has average fastball at 88-91 MPH. His best pitch is a changeup.
Florida State League
4. Yonder Alonso – .292 .374 .464 .838
Has good strike zone knowledge, will hit for both average and power, and drives the ball with power to all fields. Compared to Will Clark. Limited defensively to 1B where he is adequate.
Midwest League
None
Pioneer League
11. Yorman Rodriguez – .236 .288 .337 .625
Potential five tool CF who is an excellent athlete and a defensive standout. The question is whether his raw bat will develop.
18. Mariekson Gregorius – .298 .341 .367 .708
A SS from the Netherlands, he’s a spray hitter with good strike zone judgment. Good speed with the tools to remain at SS.
Gulf Coast League
13. Billy Hamilton – .205 .253 .277 .530
Struggled at the plate in first full season. Very fast runner, learning plate discipline and how to switch hit. Great range and arm, led GCL SS in fielding percentage.
16. Yorman Rodriguez – .236 .288 .337 .625
Potential five tool CF who is an excellent athlete and a defensive standout. The question is whether his raw bat will develop.
20. Daniel Tuttle- 1.69 1.313 .258 .658
The RH starter worked at 88-91 MPH with a 94 peak. Working on consistent mechanics and refining his curve and changeup.
Tom,
Is the number in front of their names, their ranking in each specific league?
Positive reviews of our top position players. Seems like everyone agrees that Alonso can hit. Intersting comment that 3rd base is Frazier’s best position.
So for 2011, are we talking about:
1B – Alonso
3B – Frazier
LF – Votto
CF – Stubbs
RF – Bruce
This would leave out Heisey and Francisco. We have to do something about this logjam, but I don’t want to trade any of them yet.
Our pitching prospects are down to nil. They don’t even think much of Wood.
@pinson343:
Don’t count the chickens before they hatch. Until they all have shown that they can succeed at the major league level, like Votto or Bruce, then let time dictate who plays where.
@Steve Price: Yes, the number preceding their name is BBA’s rank for that player within that league.
@pinson343
“Our pitching prospects are down to nil. They don’t even think much of Wood.”
Lets not forget that both Mike Leake and Brad Boxberger didn’t pitch this year, thus won’t qualify for any league list. Leake is arguably the teams 2nd best prospect behind Alonso and Boxberger is arguably the next best pitching prospect in the system (depending on how you feel about Travis Wood). There is a lot of good depth in the pitching ranks and while we do lack a bunch of high ceiling arms, we have more than a few scattered around who have the potential (Ravin, Sulbaran, Leake, Boxberger, Tuttle, Smith, Buck).
@Doug Gray: i agree with this assessment. though we don’t have any front of the rotation guys coming up we do have several who might make decent 3 and 4 starters. hopefully with bailey, cueto and volquez around for awhile, that’s all we’ll need. and don’t be surprised if travis wood turns into a very good major league pitcher.
@Doug Gray:
Klinker?
@Doug Gray: Doug, is Boxberger really considered that good? I’d never heard of him at all before draft day (not that that means much), and I noticed he averaged almost 5 BB per 9 IP this year.
i think the concern will be starting pitching after 2010. harang and arroyo contracts are up and unless they pitch lights our in 2010 to make picking up the options no brainer. i dont think Reds should count on Volquez as more than a #5 as a plan. There are plenty of recent examples of guys in his situation with great stuff and never come back to be even half as good (Liriano of Twins, Sanchez of Marlins). Success stories like Carpenter/Cardinals seem to me to be uncommon. Hopefully, Volquez does come back strong in late 2010. Then if other two guys learn/progress, Bailey, Cueto, Volquez would seem to be a strong top 3. I expect a couple of the reds position prospects to be dealt at some point (this winter, next deadline July deadline if not contending, 2010 winter) for additional pitching prospects/options for 2011.
Until then, Walt will make appropriate moves to fix SS, LF, C platoon partner, bench depth/talent, and reds contend in 2010.
I have a zero level of confidence that we can count on Jokerty to address these issues, especially since they are the exact same issues he failed to address last winter. He hasn’t done much to inspire any confidence in his abilities to manage the Reds roster.
Overall, I agree that Jocketty has been uninspiring here, but I do think he did a good job “buying low” on Jonny Gomes, and Ramon Hernandez was a decent (if overpaid) pairing with Hanigan until he got hurt.
Most of my complaints with Gomes and Hernandez were that they were mis-handled by Dusty. (Gomes didn’t play enough, and Hernandez played too much until the injury.)
Sure wanderinredsfan, that’s why I put my comment in the form of a question. 2011 is a long ways away, a lot can happen. Some of the “phenoms” may get hurt or turn into busts. I omitted Dickerson, who’s very much in the picture. Maybe Balentien will blossom. I hope we keep Gomes for 2010, maybe he’ll have a great season and we want to keep him for 2011.
But it’s fun to speculate. We do have an overload of young 1B/3B/OF talent. I hope the Reds don’t rush into solving that problem, let’s see what the kids do in 2010.
today fangraphs did a strange little “Minor Review” of some Reds minor leaguers
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/a-minor-review-of-2009-cincinnati-reds
Good link Mike. I thought it odd though that they listed Devin Mesoraco as the Tumbler. I actually thought he progressed with the bat this season. They note his increased walk rate and improved power numbers, but they fail to note that his putrid looking slash line of .228 .311 .381 .692 is actually right about at, if not a tick above, league average for the FSL this season .252 .322 .363 .685. League average bat for a catcher who tossed out 30% of base stealers is pretty good. Would be nice to see him show improvement again next season at AA.
Re: catchers… I know this is a long shot, but I was rooting wholeheartedly for Torrealba to be a stud in the playoffs, and he was! It makes me hope the Rockies will be so enamored with him that they’ll pick up his option, and be open to trading Iannetta.
I really want Iannetta here. He can hit, and Colorado might be down on him. I don’t think he played at all in the NLDS.
I don’t really like the sound of this…
http://cincinnati.com/blogs/reds/2009/10/12/jocketty-update/
I hated Bavasi getting hired, and if they are going to give him more of a role in shaping this team, that is terrible news.
@brublejr: Yeah, what is that all about? Weren’t Bonifay and Bavasi pretty clearly terrible with Pittsburgh and Seattle?
Is this just another case of preferring the “proven veteran”?
I’d rather find guys like Theo Epstein and the Tampa Bay guys to rethink how you build a roster and an organization. I don’t want more crusty, old-school, that’s-the-way-we’ve-always-done-it thinking around here.